This invention relates generally to fasteners and more particularly to brackets for coupling vertical post supports to a concrete pier or footing.
Construction techniques require a solid foundation on which to rest a building or deck. Such foundations can take the form of slabs, piers, or footings. While it is important that construction foundations be stabilized, it may be just as important that support posts, plates and other construction members be properly affixed to the foundation so that the above-ground construction elements supported by the posts and plates are similarly stabilized.
One method for affixing construction materials to foundations is by direct connection. That is, a sill plate is directly affixed to the foundation using an epoxy and/or masonry connectors. Other methods involve using brackets affixed to the foundation on one end and to vertical support beams on the other end. A common such bracket is a ‘Y-bracket’ in which a lower dowel is dropped into a drilled hole on the concrete foundation and the vertical post sets on a horizontal portion of the bracket while fasteners are formed through the vertical portion of the Y-bracket and into the (oftentimes wood) vertical post support. A disadvantage of this is that the bracket can rotate within the hole when the post is subject to torque.
A popular type of foundation, particularly for above-ground decks and porches, is called a footing. A footing is typically formed from concrete in the shape of a rhomboid. The footing is typically set upon ground prepared to give the ground stability as by forming a concrete pier to bedrock, grading the surface of the ground flat with a layer of packet gravel, etc. A conventional footing has a wider lower portion that rests on the prepared ground, and a narrower upper portion that supports the superstructure of a building, deck, or patio. A vertical member, typically a 4″×4″ wood post, is affixed to the footing as using the Y-bracket described above. But the need remains for other methods that improve upon these conventional means.